


What Lovers Do

by Iceheal (Yixingsdimple)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Baekhyun's father is also a character, Fluff, M/M, Minor Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, slow burn?, this is really cheesy and fluffy and hopefully fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-08 00:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12243258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yixingsdimple/pseuds/Iceheal
Summary: What do you do when you're a successful manhwa artist whose lost their touch? Well according to Baekhyun, you live your life like a manhwa, and Yixing thinks he might actually be onto something.





	What Lovers Do

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #5  
> To the prompter,this probably wasn't what you were expecting, however I wanted to do something rather unique with this type of AU. This is very lighthearted and probably a big contrast from the other topbaek fics in this fest as the topbaek! here is a LOT more subtle. I hope you find some enjoyment in this either way!
> 
> Also to my beta, this wouldn't be nearly as good without you, you helped me make this flow better which is something I couldn't achieve without you, I really haven't thanked you enough. 
> 
> Lastly, this fic is loosely based off a scenes of ao haru ride, Monthly Nozaki-kun, and my own prior knowledge of manga (all the shoujo manga i read in highschool)

_Rain falls heavily on the pavement, it’s dull color darkened near a bus stop. A petite girl runs outside in hopes to reach the bus to save herself from the dreary weather, and from the heartbreak she received in the Cafe she just left. Weakly covering her head, tears welled in her eyes more as she sees the bus pulling away, fully feeling the loneliness and sadness reach her heart. She stops in her place, not even bothering to seek shelter within the bus stop as she starts to wipe her eyes, attempting to keep them dry. However once she starts crying she sobs uncontrollably._  


_“I thought I did everything I could do to win his heart why…. Why am I so unlikable? Why doesn’t he like me?”_  


_She stands there for what feels like hours, which is actually minutes, allowing her thin frame to shake from the cold. Her sobbing as she continues to stand there, staring blankly into the street crying._  


_It’s not until the lack of rain tapping on her head and back does she realize that someone is standing next to her.  
“I’ll be your clear umbrella. Even though it will seem transparent I’ll protect you from whatever I can, whenever.” She knew that voice. How could she not know? She whipped her head around to look at the owner of the voice and-- _

Yixing groaned, scribbling lines across the panels on the sheet, and crumbled up the rough draft, lazily tossing it towards the trash. It landed around the bin with all the rest of the drawing paper he had previously thrown out. 

He removed the glasses off of his face and rubbed his eyes. And here he thought he was done being lost and would be able to publish something within the next month. Removing the earbuds from his ear and pressing pause on his phone, he glanced out the window. The soft rain dropping quietly to the ground outside of his apartment was in fact not of any help to his lack of inspiration as of late. Placing his glasses back on his eyes, he got up and looked at his unreasonably large apartment.

Ever since his editors, Jongdae and Minseok, had emailed about his absences of work he’d felt a small flame of motivation to start his art again. But it seems it was him forcing himself to draw something of quality. They’d talked about how they hoped Yixing was doing well and having a nice break, and that the office had been worried about the next time he will publish something because they needed a deadline, and to give them a call to talk. Yixing though, someone who’d rather not talk, sent a brief email saying he had something in the works and he was fine. However with drawings of various states of completion sprawled all across his living room, not including the failed free throws to the trash basket, he had nothing. 

He quickly made some ramen (damn he was gonna have to go shopping at some point or die starving) and laid on the couch with a drama playing softly on the TV. He’d scald his tongue on the ramen, laughing softly as he knew he should have known better. 

He’d never thought it would get to this point. With all the experience under Yixing’s, or rather, Lay’s belt he didn’t consider at all that he would experience burnout. Most manhwa artists work on their craft for maybe a minimum of ten years before they decide to throw in the towel. But Yixing? Only on his fifth consecutive year of this being his job and he was already questioning if this was worth it for him anymore. For someone of his level of success, they would likely be happy to retire early, however this was all Yixing had in his life; his art and his stories. His characters were the people whom he chose to be close with, sharing his secrets and experiences with. No one is as close to Yixing as his art was, which is why quitting forever is not an option. 

But after working for a manhwa magazine and even dabbling in animation, Yixing wanted to create his own stories, his own manhwa. He’d created a highly successful manhwa, which starred a Rabbit and a Sheep and their adventures in temples and ruins, which ran its course until the winter when the series concluded. It was praised for its high quality, excellent characters and interesting plot while also showing diversity Lay could posses plot and art wise. However it had been almost a year and Yixing had been stuck in some hole that he couldn’t climb out of. So to end an unsuccessful evening, he watched horrible dramas till it bored him to sleep.

~ 

The cafe was busy as always, chatter filling the air along with the aroma of pastries and coffee, so much coffee. Yixing doodled a bit of little characters while waiting for his manager. Honestly speaking, he’d much rather have this conversation with Mr. Byun in the comfort of his own home as he does with most business inquiries and Mr. Byun knows this, however he was persistent on Yixing going out to meet him.

Mr. Byun walks into the cafe as expected, dressed nicely in a gray suit. He looked professional compared to Yixing’s flannel, sweatshirt and jeans. He ordered a coffee and walked towards where Yixing is seated. Yixing gave him a small wave and smile and went back into his drawings.

“Finally coming up with something? Maybe I can finally set a deadline for you,”

Yixing laughed sarcastically, sipping his drink. “That’s completely unrealistic and you know it. Small drawings come easy, it’s trying to create something big that makes it so complicated.” 

Mr. Byun chuckled. “Blunt as always Yixing, glad to see you’re doing alright. Now how was your summer?”

Since they hadn’t seen each other in a while, they caught up with one another. Yixing briefly and quickly talked about his trip back home to Changsha to visit his family. He talked about rekindling the very few friendships he had back in China while he was there, and he had a great time.They had wished him luck on his career and he did for them. He wasn’t a fan of gatherings like that but it was nice. Yixing then spent the next ten minutes listening to Mr.Byun. He talked about the editing team and how Minseok and Jongdae really missed him and they asked about Yixing all the time, and he nagged that they can go to his apartment. He also talked a little bit about the other two clients whom he is the manager for and that they both have smaller projects going on. His family, his oldest son had recently gotten married and how proud he was and they took a family trip to Jeju Island to celebrate.

“Don’t you have another son?” 

“Yeah I do, I barely saw him that weekend, he was always out with his friends, I’ll introduce you to him at some point. I’m actually surprised I haven’t - he’s around your age.” Mr. Byun suddenly made what Yixing would call a strange yet excited expression, almost as if a lightbulb literally shined above his head and gave him an idea. Yixing raised his eyebrows and waited for Mr. Byun to say what he was thinking so hard about. It’s when Mr. Byun said nothing for a couple of minutes that Yixing decided to disturb his thoughts.

“Uh, do you have something to say? You look like you do.”

Mr. Byun grinned, shaking his head, “Not at the moment no, but I do think I have the perfect way for you to end your hiatus and you’ll figure not now, but soon.” He wiped his lips to get rid of any coffee and stood up. “You’ll hear from me soon Yixing, until then have a nice evening.” And he was gone. 

 

Strange, Yixing thought, he knew Mr. Byun was a little bit of a weirdo, but that was exceptionally off. And what did he mean by I’ll figure it out soon? What’s he gonna do to bring my inspiration back? Shaking his head in confusion and laughing yet again, Yixing went back to his doodles, where he was currently drawing a boy drinking coffee.

~ 

Yixing was going to grab a bottle of water from his fridge and take a break from his drawings when he heard it. It was faint at first and he assumed it’s his neighbor’s door and not his, but when he heard it again, the knocking, louder this time he knew it was for him.

Sighing Yixing walked to his door and looked through the peephole. There he could see who the source of the sound was. All he could see about said man, was that he was about Yixing's height, had brown fluffy hair and at least four bags in his arms. The man was standing on his tiptoes, trying to peep inside his apartment. That’s not how peepholes work at all. Yixing silently watched the stranger at the door secretly hoping he'd give up and walk away. Growing impatient and determined, the man at the door resumed what he was doing about five minutes ago, which was knocking on the door rather loudly and quickly.

Looks like the stranger wasn't going anywhere else anytime soon. Rubbing his temples, Yixing opened the door, “I think you have the wrong number I didn't-- what are you doing in my apartment?” The man walked right inside, Yixing’s apartment, barely acknowledging him besides for him he had to move around Yixing. The face Yixing was giving the stranger was indescribable at this point. What the fuck was going on?

Instead of giving an answer the intruder set his bags down on the island in the kitchen and looked around. Pressing his finger to his lips, he thought aloud, “This place is kind of a mess don’t you think? No wonder you can't think of anything. We can clean this up later I guess. I’m exhausted.”

Yixing could feel himself getting slightly red at the stranger’s comment. It was a mess because he's here by himself all day everyday. Who even was this guy to judge? “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

He clapped his hands together turning back to look at Yixing. His expression was of delight as he began to explain himself, “Oh shit, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Byun Baekhyun, your manager's son. Maybe you’ve heard of me maybe not, I beg my dad not to share embarrassing stories of me when I'm not around. You’re Zhang Yixing, though people kinda but also kinda don't know you as Lay. I’m here to beat that writer's block of yours and get you back to creating manhwa.”

Yixing raised his eyebrow in question. Here was here because of his father but what exactly could he do to help him with his writer's block? “How do you figure you're going to do that?”

“That, my friend, is why I brought these,” waving to the various grocery bags on the counter, Yixing was very unsure how that was going to help,“I’m going to make us some food and I’m going to tell you our game plan.”

Yixing had known Baekhyun for a total of twenty minutes and he has already learned that Baekhyun is a terrible cook. After spending the ten minutes looking for the proper pots and making comments such as “Why do you have nothing here, how do you eat?” He then poorly chopped vegetables, getting most of it on the floor or scattered around the kitchen. 

After fiddling around, Baekhyun finally had their food ready. Yixing quickly cleared the table and got himself a bowl. After minutes of awkward silence (to Yixing anyways) Baekhyun finally decided to speak up again.

“So what I decided is what we’re going to do is clean up the apartment, make a list of romance manhwa tropes and cliches and do a review of them.”

“Wait hold up it’s just me living here, why do I need to clean up.”

“It’ll help clear and organize your thoughts it's good for you! And besides I’ll be living here for the time being.”

The next sound that could be heard was Yixing's spoon dropping onto the floor. He reached to pick it up and gave Baekhyun an exasperated look. “You’re staying here since when?”

Baekhyun gave him a wicked smile and stirred his spoon in his food, “Well my dad thought it was a good idea, and I’d rather not commute back and forth, it's just until you find your footing in your manhwa and I’ll be gone. I know you’ve got another room to spare so don't lie and say you don't,” He stood up and stretched, then placed his bowl and utensils in the sink. “Well, before we get started on some cleaning I have to go grab my suitcases from my car, so I’ll be back.” He waved and walked out the apartment as quickly as he came. 

While having a moment to himself, Yixing grabbed his cell phone and headed to his room for a quick phone call. He called someone he knew would possibly have for explanations for this.

“Hello this is EXO’s editing office how may I-”

“Junmyeon it’s me Yixing, I’ve got questions.”

“Oh hey Yixing it’s been quite awhile since we’ve heard from you. Didn't even recognize your number it's been so long,” Junmyeon chuckled.

“Yeah well I’ve been taking a break, but anyways did Mr. Byun say something about his son? The younger one?”

“I haven't seen Mr. Byun in a few days, but he did mention possibly having some work for his son to do and perhaps working for him while he was taking a break from university. Why?”

It was too long of a story to explain how his manager’s son was living with him and determined to fix his writer's block, and he simply doesn't have the time. “Nothing. I’ll tell you another time. Say hi to Chen and Xiumin for me, thanks and bye.”

“I hope whatever you're doing with Mr. Byun’s son is worth it, we miss seeing you stop by at the office with your work. We'll talk to you soon Yixing.” And with a click Junmyeon was gone. 

When Baekhyun came back he had three suitcases dropped on the floor behind him. “This should be enough for me to stay here for now, I can always get more stuff later. But now-” He clapped his hands once again and grinned widely. “It’s time for some cleaning yeah? I mean look at all the paper around here.”

Baekhyun wasn’t exactly wrong, with Yixing’s terrible attempts at creating stories and drawings, papers of various forms have ended up around the trash, or just generally all around the apartment. And besides that, after the cooking Baekhyun did the kitchen was dirty as well and honestly he couldn’t remember the last time he cleaned his room. 

Several washes, trash bags and sweeps later and the apartment was the cleanest Yixing had seen it in a while. Wiping his hands clean Baekhyun grinned at the room and walked towards his bags.

“And now I can finally put my stuff into my new room. Which by the way where is that exactly?”

Yixing pointed towards the hallway while organizing the papers on the table, “All the way down the the little hall way to the left. Should be across from the bathroom.” he said without looking up. He heard Baekhyun yell a thanks as a he dragged his bags into the room. 

A few minutes later Baekhyun returned from his new room, car keys in hand, “I’m not familiar with the area and I’m going to be here for a while so I’m going to drive for a while. Make sure to leave the door unlocked okay?” with that he was gone.

Waiting for Baekhyun to return,Yixing sunk into couch, replaying today’s events as he’s realizing a guy he barely knows is now his roommate. This was going to interesting in almost every way possible.

~ 

Yixing startled as Baekhyun slammed a sheet of paper in front of him. He’d been recreating a character from a manhwa series he finished a couple years ago before Baekhyun scared him. A talking sheep with the ability to heal. Baekhyun slid the paper toward Yixing’s direction and pointed, telling him to flip it over.

He scanned through the paper with an inquired look, “A list of manhwa cliches? What is this for?”

Baekhyun grabbed the paper from the table and flaunted it in Yixing's face, “This, my friend, is the solution to your writer's block,” he beamed. “Life imitates art, or so they say, so we are going to stimulate every one of these for inspiration. You can still do your doodles and such but these will be more productive.” 

Yixing tapped his fingers on the table to process what exactly is happening. This could possibly work if he thinks about it. Most of the things he’d try to write about he has had no experience, perhaps this will change things. Also this must come from and be cleared from his manager if Baekhyun is saying all this. “Okay,” he sighed, “okay, I’ll try it.” 

“I’m surprised you gave in so easily. Kinda sad you gave no fight. Oh well I’m excited, this is gonna be fun!” Baekhyun teased, as if Yixing had a choice at all.

~ 

Yixing was lost. After their briefing on what they were both going to do for this experiment Baekhyun had been mute. Well that’s not true as Yixing quickly learned that as a roommate Baekhyun is a chatterbox, but when it came to how they are going to accomplish the list he was very quiet. Yixing's questions only received vague answers so he decided to stop asking.

What he knew so for is that Baekhyun will be playing the ‘dominant role’ and Yixing will be playing the receiver. Baekhyun set it up like this because he wasn't sure whether Yixing was going to create a hetero or homo sexual manhwa but it will work either way. 

“How do I know when we are going to stimulate a trope when you won't tell me,” Yixing asked stirring his tea to Baekhyun lounging on the sofa.

“You’ll know after we’ve done it, I mean you've seen the list right?,” he tossed the remote he was fiddling with onto the coffee table, “your reactions will be more genuine and natural this way and it’ll be more fun. So stop asking questions.”

Yixing rested his mug on the coffee table and sat on the empty space where Baekhyun hadn't sprawled out, “Always talking about fun... is this a game to you or something?”

Baekhyun chewed on his lip, “Not a game, no, this is obviously a job, but I want to make this easy and stress free for you.” 

Why do this at all when you barely know me, Yixing thought. 

1.  
The sun beamed down and created light throughout Yixing’s apartment. Yixing sat crossed legged on one of his sofas, tattered Sketchbook on his lap, phone on his side close to falling between the cushions. He sketched and listened to music, barely hearing the click as Baekhyun entered the apartment. 

“Let’s go out,” Baekhyun said, snacking on a granola bar. Yixing looked up from where he was drawing scenery. He was attempting to draw a garden that he saw in a drama once, thinking it was good be a good place for his characters, whoever they are, to share an emotional scene. 

“And do what?” 

“Don’t know where yet, but it’ll be interesting and I have a surprise for you. When’s the last time you left this house Yixing?” Yixing grimaced, he honestly hadn’t left it much as he’d rather be inside, and Baekhyun was insistent on him going out to get groceries or anything needed for the house. Yixing simply didn’t go out because he didn’t need to.

“You sadly have a point. Alright, I’ll go.’ Grabbing his jacket, Yixing followed Baekhyun out the door and to the front of the apartment. 

As they walked down the hall towards the elevator, Yixing pondered on what exactly this surprise he was going to get actually is. He’s lived with Baekhyun for only a short week now, but what he had learned quickly is that Baekhyun is capable of anything. 

What he had not expected to see when they exited the apartment building was a bicycle. The bike was a neon red and had a basket connected to its front.

“Tah dah! Don't you like your surprise? I ordered this baby about four days ago? And I’m so ready to give it a spin.”

“How are we both going to ride this? It only has one seat,” Yixing challenged.

Baekhyun stretched one leg over the seat of the bicycle and gripped one of the handle bars, “See that frame above the back wheel? That’s a seat and that’s where you’re going to sit. Now sit sideways.” 

Hiding a laugh with his fist, Yixing walked over towards the bicycle, examining the ‘seat’. How he was going to stay there without holding onto something for dear life, he wasn’t sure. But this must be part of this experiment Baekhyun planned, so he reluctantly sat down onto the seat sideways, his legs dangling on one side of the bicycle. 

Sitting on his seat, Baekhyun turned his head back towards Yixing, pointing towards his own waist. “Okay, so what we’re going to do is emulate something that’s pretty common in other manhwas. Place your arms around my waist and hold on tight, alright?” Nodding, Yixing does as he’s told and put his arms around Baekhyun’s waist. Right before Baekhyun begins to pedal the bike, Yixing adjusts himself and realizes how small in size Baekhyun actually is. Besides being slightly shorter than Yixing, his figure is slimmer, and through holding firmly onto him Yixing can definitely feel muscle. 

Pedaling through the busy streets of Seoul on a bicycle was an interesting perspective to travel through the city. The sounds of the wheels crushing the dried up leaves on the ground, a small splashing of puddles and busy people talking everywhere filled Yixing's ear. And if the sound was anything to go by, the streets were full to the brim with people going to and from places. The smell of food from various restaurants and pollen filled the air as they rode through the street. However, as much as quickly passing by stores and businesses on the sidewalk was nice, Yixing still had no idea where they were going. His stomach rumbled in anxiousness and hunger. 

Baekhyun, who had been quiet for the longest time, spoke up, “You’re hungry huh? I’ll take us somewhere to eat don't worry.”

“How did you know?”

“Well you're pressing on my back so I can feel your stomach for starters,” Yixing laughed, embarrassed. “And also I didn't see you eat earlier, so why not?”

Baekhyun steered them further down the street until they reached a small restaurant. Entering inside, Baekhyun asked a waitress for a table for two, and she showed them their table. Settling down on the table, Baekhyun begun to cut up pork and place it onto the grill. 

“So, did you feel anything during our ride? Was it inspiring enough?” Baekhyun said, taking a sip of his drink. 

“It was… interesting enough. I haven't done anything like that before. Only read it in manhwas.”

Baekhyun giggled, “Of course you have never done this before, you don't go outside. And it being in manhwas is the whole point, we're experimenting cliches and tropes for sparks of your creativity.” He stuffed the meat into his mouth and continued, “I think on the way back you should get a lot more closer, more intimate and romantic ya know? We gotta do what lovers do.”

Thinking about it, Yixing could already picture a couple he drew playing out the scene he had just experienced. Traveling through the city, the girl holding the man’s waist up close and personal with another. He also certainly doesn't think he’d mind doing it again with Baekhyun, on the way back or any other time. Feeling a heat crawling up his face Yixing answered, “Intimate and romantic... not sure if I need anymore of that.” 

“Well unfortunately for you, what I’ve got planned is plenty of romantic and I won't be leaving till we complete it so you’ll have to deal. Besides, if you ask me you don’t have nearly enough romance in your life to write about the subject. It's all about experience.” 

Feeling awkward for some reason that Yixing didn't understand - maybe it was the exposure of his mundane life or something else, he had no clue. He picked up his chopsticks and ate some of the grilled meat and asked, “So how come you're here to help me, Baekhyun? I mean I know your dad asked you to, but you're putting so much effort. There must be more.”

Baekhyun looked up at him, amused, “If you’re talking about the bike don't worry about it. I bought it cause I needed a new one anyways. But as for my reasoning,” he pressed his chopsticks to his lips in thought, “I won't tell you yet. It's better I tell you at the end of this experiment.” He grabbed a slice of pork and kimchi with his chopsticks and pointed it in front of Yixing's mouth. “Now eat, you basically live off of coffee and ramen so I know you're hungry.” 

Yixing scoffed, “As small as you are you should be the one eating, Baekhyun, I’m surprised you could even pedal the bike with my weight on it.”

Realizing this was a failed attempt to feed Yixing, Baekhyun placed the food in his own mouth and pouted, “I knew you were going to say something like that, don't you of all people know not judge a book by its cover?” 

Yixing smiled, catching himself as he realized how cute Baekhyun's pout actually was, “Yeah I guess you're right.” 

Many many plates of meat and vegetables later, Baekhyun was stuffed and ready to return home. 

“If I eat anymore I’ll be too tired to pedal the bike, so let's go!” Walking out of the restaurant Baekhyun unlocked the lock to the bike and pulled it out. He swung his leg over and sat on the seat, patting the frame behind him. “You know what to do, so get to it.” 

Sitting on the frame yet again, Yixing wrapped his arms around Baekhyun's waist, waiting for him to start moving. 

“Why aren't you moving, don't you want to go home?” Yixing asked. 

“I told you to get closer while we were eating, didn't I? I want to feel you completely on my back.” 

Oh right, intimate and romantic is their goal. Closing the gap between them, Yixing scoots closer to Baekhyun's back, completely touching it now. He could practically see Baekhyun grin, even with his back turned. “Perfect, now let's go.”

Arriving back at the apartment, Baekhyun went back to his room and called out, “I’m going to go shower, pick a movie we can watch later, okay Xingie?” 

Yixing shouted an okay, laughing at the disbelief that Baekhyun already has a nickname for him, and it's so cheesy. Sitting on the sofa he pulls out his sketchbook and begins to draw. 

_A small girl sat on the frame of the bicycle, legs swung over the wheel. Her long black locks flowed in the wind as the boy peddled. She looked content, holding closely to the boy’s waist, dimple poking out of each of her cheeks. The boy was sporting a boxed smile, clearly laughing as he pushed both of them through the street. His soft brown hair was slightly bouncing as they rode the bicycle. Riding through the street, the couple carried a sense of affection that the girl wanted to have forever. When she looks at the boy there’s stars in her eyes._

2\. 

If Yixing thought he was going to sit around all day and wait for Baekhyun to take him places in order to fulfill the trials, he was dead wrong. While he was insistent that when they aren't doing a cliche drawing and doodling was helpful, Baekhyun thought otherwise. 

“Looking at the same things everyday is boring Yixing,” Baekhyun complained, “And so is basing your drawings on things you watch in dramas.”

“That's not all I have drawn,” Yixing mumbled rubbing his eyes. He's drawn a scene based on them riding the bike. It's definitely an improvement from all the simple sketches he had before, he’s starting to feel like he has something going, maybe. Not that he’ll tell Baekhyun yet.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Damn near okay? Anything else you have hidden because I haven't seen it.” That's because Yixing had transferred the scene of the couple riding the bike onto manga paper, which he kept hidden in his room, unlike his sketchbook. 

“Listen I’m just tired of sitting here all day, don't you have anywhere you could be?” Baekhyun whined.

“No one’s forcing you to be here,” Yixing said, “I could do to the art supplies store? I’m running low on some things.”

This sprung Baekhyun to life. He pulled Yixing off the seat, filled with energy he was lacking seconds before. “Finally something to fucking do! It's downtown right? Let's go!” He sped off to his room to get his things.

Yixing quickly pulled on his shoes he had lazily left in the living room and waited for Baekhyun to return. Baekhyun came out of his room, car keys spinning around his index finger and bag on his back.

Yixing looked at him with confusion, “We’re not going to ride the bike again?” he asked.

“Oh hell no, it's way too far and I'm lazy.” Baekhyun said and shrugged, “Plus it was only a one time thing.”

Yixing couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed to hear they wouldn't be doing it again. He felt he got to know Baekhyun a little better that way. 

“Anyways let's go so we can beat traffic!” He said, heading towards the door.

Baekhyun grinned, “You’re telling me!” And he followed Yixing out the door.

~ 

Baekhyun's personality shows no matter what he does. So to which shouldn't be to Yixing's surprise, Baekhyun is energetic in the car. Their personalities somewhat clash, but for the most of the time he's used to it. But the car ride was not one those times.

Baekhyun was a loud driver. He put his music way too high, he swore and yelled at drivers in his car, and he drove a little too fast sometimes. He also sang along to the cheesy kpop songs that played on local radio, but Yixing didn't mind that part. He found his voice to be soothing and dreamlike. Yixing caught himself smiling, listening to Baekhyun sing. He ran his fingers through his hair to distract himself, he needs to get a haircut soon.

It was when a ballad came on and Baekhyun used his voice full throttle, that Yixing felt charmed by Baekhyun's voice again.

“You have a nice singing voice,” Yixing commented suddenly at a traffic light.

Baekhyun was caught by surprise. “Oh thanks.” he stuttered. Yixing could swear Baekhyun's cheeks got a shade darker. “I’m surprised you haven't heard me sing in the shower. I kind of go off into my own world so I get pretty loud.” He said, slim fingers tapping the steering wheel.

“I’m disappointed I haven't either, but I'm glad I have now, it's nice,” Yixing said.

Baekhyun drove a few blocks in silence before he decided to speak up again. “I wanted to be a singer,” he said “Well specifically an idol but in the end it didn't matter, I just wanted to sing.”

“What happened to that?” Yixing asked.

“I decided I didn't need to anymore. There are other ways I could make use of myself and still sing on the side. It was really just a hobby.” He smiled, “It's better this way anyways.” 

“Well I think you would have been a great singer, maybe I’d be your biggest fan.”

Baekhyun laughed loudly, “Who knew you could be so flirty Xing, god damn! But thanks, glad to hear that.

“Besides, had I been a singer I would be way too busy to do this and therefore wouldn't have met you Xingie,”

“Just drive Baek,”

“Okay okay!”

Baekhyun drove until he reached downtown Seoul. He parked far from where the art store was, saying how he wanted to look around some shops before leaving. 

Exiting the car they walked down the street, looking for the art store. The streets were busy as it was a Sunday afternoon. Families and couples roamed around the streets conversing, shopping, eating, living. And here Yixing was doing it with Baekhyun. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he went out with anyone willingly, especially non work related. 

He looked up towards the sky and looked towards the clouds, it's going to rain soon so they needed to be in and out.

Reaching the shop they entered. The place smelled of paints, paper and markers and Yixing couldn't feel more at home. 

“I’m going to go look around this place since I’ve never been here, let me know whenever you're finished. Okay?” Baekhyun said, waving a goodbye and entering a random aisle.

Yixing grabbed a basket and walked down until he found the manhwa section. Looking through the pens he grabbed pencils, erasers, pens, ink, all the writing utensils needed to draw manhwa. Going further down the aisle he reached the paper. He grabs a notebook of bristol sheet paper, scrolling through the sheets. The paper is the right transparency for the manhwa drafts so he's good to go. 

Reaching the cash register, Yixing drops his basket onto the counter and looks around while the cashier scans his items. He sees out of the corner of his eyes that Baekhyun is now outside, kneeling down to pet a walker’s dog. Yixing felt himself smirking at the scene.

Exiting the store, Yixing walked up towards Baekhyun, who was gushing to the dog owner about how cute the dog was. 

“Thanks for letting me pet your dog! He's such a cute dog he reminds me of my own corgi he's adorable I lov--”

“I’m finished with everything Baek, stop declaring your love to the dog now.” 

Baekhyun looked up and smiled at Yixing. He stood back up, bowing at the walker who was now leaving with his dog.

“So you're good to go?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yup. I have everything I need now.”

“Great now let's go eat! I think there's a tteokbokki stand further down the street,” Baekhyun walked off, blending into the crowd walking further down the street.

Jogging to catch up, Yixing walks right next to Baekhyun. Baekhyun pointed out the shops they passed by and the restaurants they'd have to try another time. Being that the streets of downtown Seoul were busy, their fingers constantly brushed against one another, causing Yixing to blush. He decided it was enough contact when he decided to bring his hand up to cover a fake cough. 

Baekhyun looked over with worry, “Are you okay Xing? Are you feeling unwell? Next time I'll be sure to bring face masks.”

Yixing waved off Baekhyun's concern, “No I’m fine, something just caught in my throat.”

“Okay, I'm sure the food will make you feel better, we’re almost there,” Baekhyun hummed. 

When they reached the tteokbokki stand, they ordered their food, and the vendor grabbed the rice cakes and placed them into a small cup. 

They went to find a nearby bench, sitting on each end and placing their cups, and Yixing's bag of supplies in the center. Baekhyun poked through a rice cake with his chopsticks and stuck it out towards Yixing, hand hovered underneath. 

“Didn't you do this the last time we went out?” Yixing asked.

Baekhyun nodded, “This time I’m determined to feed you. Besides, I’m here to take care of you. Now say ‘ahh’ Xing”

Yixing laughed, giving in to Baekhyun's demands and opened his mouth. Yixing hummed to the taste the spiciness of the rice cakes tingling in his mouth. It was a nice contrast to the cooler air that was blowing on his skin. 

They talked and joked until their stomachs were full and decided it was a good time to head back.

“I know this isn't ideal for you, being out and all, but I had fun so thanks,” Baekhyun said, standing up from the bench.

“It really was no problem Baek, I had fun. Doesn’t mean I’d like to do this everyday but it's nice.”

Baekhyun grinned, “You called me Baek earlier and now,” Yixing hadn't even realized he had, it was purely a slip of the tongue, “I like it, keep calling me that.”

“Anything for you Baek,” Yixing joked around, “now let's head back.”

Right as they had begun to walk towards the car, it begun to rain. Worried about damaging the paper with water, Yixing held his bag tightly against his chest.

“Oh shit rain? How’d I miss that on the weather,” Baekhyun said, then looked over at Yixing. Noticing what Yixing is doing, he looked around. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” Baekhyun said running off to a nearby convenient store they'd passed earlier. He came back later with a transparent umbrella.

“Here, stay under this,” Baekhyun said, breathing slightly heavy, and opened the umbrella. Yixing stepped underneath, again being in close proximity with Baekhyun. Yixing shoulder was still catching some of the rain droplets, as Baekhyun was slightly shorter than Yixing and could only cover so much, but he honestly didn't mind.

“I drew a scene similar to this once,” Yixing commented while they walked.

“Did you? How did it go?” Baekhyun asked.

“Well quite honestly, the only similarities between this and the scene was that it was raining and the umbrella,” Yixing laughed, “it was a sad scene, the girl stayed hopeless in the rain until her best friend came and covered her with his umbrella.”

“That does sound sad,” Baekhyun said, “maybe whenever you draw it again it can be a happier scene.” 

Maybe Baekhyun was onto something, not that Yixing would ever admit it.

~ 

As soon as they returned to the apartment Yixing knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to draw. He told Baekhyun to do whatever he wants just not to bother him in his room as he had work to do.

“Whatever you say Lay,” Baekhyun responded mockingly, walking towards his own room. He looked curious but didn't pry into Yixing to see what he was doing. He was honestly glad to see Yixing so eager to draw. 

Yixing closed the door and turned on the lamp to his desk. He dumped the bag of supplies onto the desk, looking for the pencil, eraser and paper.

Sketching out the panels loosely, Yixing begun to draw the scene that was playing in his mind since it had begun to rain. 

_Walking down a busy street, a couple shared an umbrella. The boy was the same one with the boxy smile, his hair slightly damp and sticking to his head. He wasn't taller than his counterpart, so the girl felt droplets fall onto her shoulder, but she didn't mind. Their hands brushed together as they walked side by side, wanting to intertwine but deciding not to. The girl looked towards the boy, eyes smiling as she laughed at something that had been said. Despite the dreary weather they were both nothing but in high spirits because they were together._

3.  
In retrospect, Yixing should have known this was going to be bad idea. He knew that sooner or later, things were going to get messy, especially since they are purposely messing with emotions.

It's not that he didn't like Baekhyun, he did, but when they were doing this for the sake of Yixing's career, things got confusing.

Yixing's feelings had really started to shift when they decided to go out and have lunch.

“Let's have a picnic, at Han River,” Baekhyun called out from his room that day. 

“Is the weather supposed to be nice?” Yixing thought aloud.

Baekhyun came out of his room, entering the hallway with messy hair. “It is, and we haven't done anything in a week so I thought it’d be nice.” 

“It would be. But do we even have the food to pack?”

“Well we always have ramen so there's that but I bought some groceries a couple days ago so we're good,” Baekhyun said running his fingers through his hair. 

Yixing stood up, fixing his wrinkled clothes, “then let’s do it.”

Entering the kitchen, they both prepared the food they were planning to bring. Yixing prepared the sandwiches, putting meats and vegetables in them, rolling his eyes whenever Baekhyun emphasized that there should be no cucumbers. Baekhyun gave himself a simple task to complete and grabbed whatever snacks they had to bring with them. He cooked ramen and poured it into round aluminum containers. Placing them into a lunch box, Yixing grabbed water bottles and put them in as well. 

Reaching their destination Baekhyun parked the car off where they would have to walk a bit to get to the river. This was fine to Yixing, it was a nice day anyways. It was a warmer October afternoon, and the sun was giving enough heat to keep him comfortable. Walking towards the river, Yixing pointed towards a table they could sit at but Baekhyun gave him an unsatisfied look.

“Xing. Who has a picnic on a table? That's so boring, we're going on to sit on the grass,” he said.

“The grass has bugs…,” Yixing mumbled under his breath.

Ignoring Yixing's complaint, Baekhyun found a spot close to river under a tree to lay the blanket down. He leaves the lunchbox next to the tree and spreads out the blanket, patting for Yixing to sit down. 

Eating lunch with Baekhyun was a regular occurrence, however something felt off about this day. 

Maybe it was the calm atmosphere of the river and the people surrounding it. Or maybe it had something to do with the way the wind slightly blowed at Baekhyun's hair. Or maybe the way Baekhyun's pouty lips ate the food, the soup of the ramen giving his lips a glow. 

But Yixing just had a feeling something about this lunch was significantly different than the others. Knowing exactly how Baekhyun works, he really should have known better. 

It's when they're done eating their food, just talking and watching the river, does the unexpected happen. 

Baekhyun is talking about how he missed his dog so much and how they should visit him when Yixing sees it; a bug on Baekhyun's neck. Clearly Baekhyun hadn't noticed as he’d been talking away, too focused on the topic and his hand movements. Knowing how skittish Baekhyun can get Yixing decides to keep it to himself, gently brushing his hand on the back of Baekhyun's neck. 

Baekhyun quickly turns his head towards Yixing's direction and he could've sworn he heard a crack. He swore he saw the makings of a blush creeping up on Baekhyun's cheeks.

“Yah! What are you doing? You can't warn me before you start randomly touching me? That scared the fuck outta me,” Baekhyun said clearly flustered. Yixing honestly couldn't help but find it amusing that the roles have been reversed. 

“I’m just getting a bug, you should be thanking me I saved you from freaking out,” Yixing replied. He could tell that his nonchalant response was getting to Baekhyun, if the way he was stuttering and pouting was anything to go by.

“Well it’s only fair I do something back,” and Baekhyun leaned forward, grabbing Yixing’s neck. Yixing regretted everything he’s done this day immediately. He never bothered to tell Baekhyun he was extremely ticklish in the neck, deeming it a random fact that didn’t need to be shared, but now he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not. If Baekhyun’s reaction to him cracking up laughing and poorly attempting to hide his neck was anything to go by, either way he was fucked. 

“Oh! I think I found a weak spot! Xingie is ticklish in the neck I see? Good to know,” Baekhyun teased and pressed his fingers deeper into Yixing’s neck. If Yixing wasn’t being tortured right at the moment he would consider this intimate.

Then Baekhyun decided to scoot closer to Yixing, knees knocking into each other and bring his head close to Yixing’s. Yixing wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing until it was too late, as Baekhyun brought his lips to the back of Yixing’s neck and began to blow. Yixing could clearly smell the aftertaste of the kimchi ramen in Baekhyun’s mouth but not that he cared, he was too busy trying to get away from Baekhyun. He squirmed, trying to get free but Baekhyun was just not letting up, he had a hard grip on Yixing’s shoulder. 

Baekhyun then decided that close wasn’t actually close enough, so he swung a leg around the opposite side of Yixing and straddled him. He quickly grabbed Yixing’s arms with his own, pinning them down and pushing Yixing to the ground. Now his whole body was above Yixing’s, and Yixing’s arms were trapped to his side by Baekhyun’s hands, and Baekhyun was sitting directly in Yixing’s lap. Baekhyun leaned in, blowing close to Yixing’s jaw. Yixing closed his eyes shut, laughing loudly and still trying to break free, not even noticing Baekhyun’s drastic change in position. However when he felt that he was literally, trapped in between something he cracked his eyes open, looking up to meet Baekhyun’s eyes.

When their eyes met, it was like time stopped, Yixing could have swore it did. Baekhyun stopped blowing into his neck and Yixing damn near stopped breathing. He’d never been this close to Baekhyun, ever. And being this close, Yixing realized how attractive Baekhyun really was. He knew he was handsome, but being this up close and personal, he could see Baekhyun was truly something else. 

He realized how clear Baekhyun's skin was, he knew the younger took care of himself by the beauty products he lazily left around, but his skin looked soft. Yixing also noticed a small mole right above the right side of Baekhyun's downward lips. Trailing back upwards Yixing noticed what is clearly the focal point in Baekhyun, his eyes.

He already knew they were beautiful, that much was given. But to see them this close, bare with no makeup on, Yixing just saw how remarkable they were. His eyes were slightly wider as they were in shock, and another emotion Yixing couldn't place on the usually expressive Baekhyun. But most importantly Yixing saw that Baekhyun’s eyes glowed, and he was in love with them. 

But nothing lasts forever, so the look that Baekhyun had in his eyes left as soon as he realized what was going on. He obviously didn't think anything of the moment they just had as he leaned in, lips centimeters away from Yixing's chin, and blew. It was so ridiculous (and obviously ticklish) so Yixing chuckled. Baekhyun rolled off Yixing, laying on his back next to him.

“Let’s just stay here for a second, and look at the clouds before we go home,” Baekhyun mumbled. Yixing wasn't sure if he was quieter because of what just conspired or by chance.

“Sure Baekhyunnie,” Yixing said, trying to find shapes in the clouds, like he used to do when he was younger.

Yixing saw eyes in the clouds. They may or may have not been Baekhyun’s.

~ 

Yixing was due a visit to Jongdae and Minseok even if it wasn't something he'd normally do. However besides vague texts about him ‘working on stuff’ he had been practically ignoring them, and they were his only friends. Plus, it would give him a chance to get a second opinion on Baekhyun while also getting some time away from him.

Nothing had really changed on Baekhyun's part after the day at Han river, but Yixing felt a bit awkward next to him. He just knew that at this point, he had to get his feelings out, besides in drawings, he had to tell someone or something. Explaining himself to his friends should help him right?

Wrong. 

“Well if it isn't _Lay_ ? Could've sworn you dropped of the face of the earth by the lack of response from you,” Jongdae loudly retorted at Yixing once he walked into the Manhwa department of the editing office.

“You know where I live and you could've stopped by, not like you’ve never barged in before,” Yixing said, slumping into a seat across from Jongdae’s desk.

Minseok came out from a hallway with cups of coffee, placing one in front of Yixing and drinking the other. He leaned against the wall and stuck his tongue out at Jongdae’s clear disappointment at not getting his own cup.

“You know how cranky and emotional you get when you have writer’s block? Yeah I’m staying the fuck away from that.” Jongdae said.

“Anyways you’ve said you’ve been working on something right?” Minseok asked, “How's it been going?”

Yixing deeply sighed, “It's a long story.” and then he began to talk about his adventures with Baekhyun.

“So you mean to tell me you're basically living a romantic manhwa to create a story and afraid you’ve actually fallen for Baekhyun in the process?” Jongdae summarized. 

“Yup,” Yixing said.

“I’ve seen photos of your manager’s sons, you’re screwed,” Jongdae said unsympathetically.

Yixing brought his hands to his eyes, pushing his glasses up to his forehead and groaned in desperation. “Great. Awesome help guys, appreciate it.”

“Well you have no choice but to continue with what you're doing,” Minseok spoke up, “It's helping with you in the creative process so it's working. Just be careful?”

“You know I’m careful in everything I do,” 

“We know, we work with you,” Minseok said jokingly, he then gave a more concerned look to Yixing, “But this is clearly different, and mixing work with pleasure can get messy.” 

Yixing already felt better with the reassurance of Minseok and Jongdae. Despite distancing himself from them with unrelated work issues, Jongdae and Minseok always considered themselves one of Yixing's friends and it was times like this he needed them.

“Mixing work with pleasure is something you do too, and there doesn't seem to be a problem with you.” Yixing replied nonchalantly.

Yixing could visibly see them both go red, and it was oh so amusing. Minseok spit out the coffee he took a sip of and Jongdae began to whine.

“Yah! why do you always have to say stuff like that when you know it's not true,” Jongdae whined. “And here we are trying to help you!”

“Consider it payback, it was nice seeing you guys,” Yixing stood up, adjusting his glasses, “I’ll have a draft of the concept I plan to do for my next manhwa series within the next month or so.”

“Make sure you keep us up to date with Baekhyun! We mean it! We’ll hunt you down if you don’t!” Jongdae shouted as Yixing exited the building. He could faintly hear Junmyeon come out of his office warning Jongdae to stop shouting or he’ll fire him. He laughed on the way back home. 

4.

Yixing knew that sooner or later he was going to regret telling Jongdae and Minseok about Baekhyun. It was definitely sooner, as the following weekend Yixing received a text from Jongdae.

[Jongdae]:  
Come out and drink with us, we want to meet Baekhyun 

Yixing:  
No

[Jongdae]:  
Dont make me come over there! Or ill ask ur manager for Baekhyuns # and ask him myself >:(

Yixing sighed, he’d rather put off Baekhyun meeting Jongdae for as long as possible, even if it's hours. So he quickly typed back before Jongdae actually put his idea into action.

[Yixing]:  
No, ill ask him

Yixing looked up from his phone, and entered the living room finding Baekhyun scrolling through the internet on his laptop rested on his lap. Baekhyun bit his lip as he continuously clicked on the trackpad. Yixing walked up, sitting in an open space on the sofa next to Baekhyun. 

“Hey Baek,” Yixing spoke up, “want to go drinking with a few of my, uh, co-workers?”

Baekhyun stopped clicking, “Zhang Yixing asking me to go somewhere? Are you feeling alright?” He teased. He reached over hovering his hand to feel Yixing's forehead.

“Don't be an ass, I’m being forced here,” Yixing rolled his eyes.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go, just let me know what time so I can get ready early,” Baekhyun said, he resumed the clicking he was doing earlier. Yixing tapped his phone and opened it to message Jongdae.

[Yixing]:  
Alright wat time & where?

[Jongdae]:  
The usual the eve at 8ish  
Ty xingie! :3

Yixing shut off his phone, in disbelief that he’s been forced out by his friends. He’s used to going out with Baekhyun by himself, but with Jongdae and Minseok things could get interesting, especially with what they know. Yixing glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall. It was almost 4, meaning he could mentally prepare himself before they go out. He quickly told Baekhyun to be ready by 7:30, before leaving to his room to maybe draw a boy that looks like Baekhyun.

When Yixing came out of his room he was ready to go. Dressed in a nice dress shirt and pants, Yixing decided to style his hair up a bit for tonight. Knowing Jongdae and Minseok they would be getting out of work, so the outfit seemed appropriate. Passing the bathroom, he saw Baekhyun leaned very close to the mirror, apply kohl to his eyes with the door wide open.

“You left the door open,” Yixing remarked.

“Ah privacy is for those who want to distance one another. I only want to get close to you so I left it open,” Baekhyun smirked at his reflection, “besides it wasn't like I was taking a piss.”

Baekhyun straightened his back and turned to give Yixing a boxed grin, “so how does my makeup look? I look sexy right?”

Yixing rolled his eyes, he obviously wasn't going to tell Baekhyun that the burgundy eyeshadow mixed with the eyeliner made Yixing feel things he hadn't in a long time, nope.“Sexy as ever, now let's get going before we're late.”

They rode in a taxi since they both wanted to drink during the evening. Yixing noticed that Baekhyun was acting a little off, his fingers were flexing on his knees and he was chewing his lip repeatedly, obviously deep in thought.

“Are you okay? You look a little jumpy,” Yixing asked with a curious glance. 

Baekhyun shook his head, probably about fifty times in five seconds, “No I just,” he deeply sighed slouching a little in his seat, “I’m a little nervous meeting your friends, if you haven't noticed, I have a strong personality, not everybody likes it,”

Yixing suppressed the whole grin he wanted to put on his face. If he's being honest Baekhyun has nothing to worry about, but his nervousness was cute, “If I’m able to put up with you so will Jongdae and Minseok, and besides I think you're a lot similar to Jongdae actually, he’ll love you.”

“If you say so,” Baekhyun said sighing with relief, “thanks for the reassurance.”

“No problem, you didn't need it anyways,” Yixing smiled to himself.

Sometimes Yixing hated being correct.

Jongdae and Baekhyun hit it off almost right away. They'd started off with Jongdae asking most of the questions and Baekhyun blabbing to respond, which Yixing guesses is Baekhyun's way of being timid. But after a few soju bottles for each of them Baekhyun was back to his true self and then some, practically giving away his life story. He was sort of a lightweight as Yixing quickly found out. Animated and livelier than usual, Baekhyun told, or as Yixing would put it shouted, about some story in college involving some prank and a man named Chanyeol.

“So you're still in university,” Minseok asked while Baekhyun took a break in his story to take a sip.

“I’m taking a semester off, my brain was kind of fried, I’ll be going back sometime in the fall.”

“Ah I see.”

“Yeah I wrote so many papers, being a Creative writing major and all that I needed something new to experience and change up my writing, so I'm doing his favor for my dad for that.”

It was new information to Yixing that Baekhyun was a creative writing major, though it definitely fit his character. But if Yixing was being honest, he'd all but forgotten that Baekhyun was doing this because his dad asked him to. If it was also just for a break from university that meant at some point he was actually going to have to go back. There was no way Baekhyun had any strings attached to what he was doing. Too bad for Yixing himself, who was all in at this point. 

Yixing drops the thought when Baekhyun went back to focus on telling Jongdae his story, Minseok leaned in to Yixing's direction, “I can see why you’d like him, he’s quite the character.”

“Now you see why I struggle to put up with him,” Yixing said.

“Hmm yeah,” Minseok's smile in acknowledgment, “but I also see why you struggle to not love him. I can see it in your eyes. You’re like those girls in romance manhwas, flowers and hearts and pink in your eyes and around you. Makes complete sense you decided to dabble in the romance genre.”

Ridiculous description of how he looked at Baekhyun aside, Yixing did have to admit he could feel himself looking at Baekhyun in a different way than anyone else. He was sure it wasn't the very little alcohol in his system that was making him feel giggly and bubbly as he looked at Baekhyun be Baekhyun. 

It’s been an hour or so then they started drinking and Yixing was starting to feel tired. He’d never been the type to be out super late drinking so he thought now would be a good time to leave. 

He cleared his throat, “Sorry to interrupt but I’m ready to go, I’ll be outside” Yixing slowly stood up, and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. He sees Baekhyun pout and exchanging his number with Jongdae and Minseok, saying something about owing him a couple matches at eight ball soon and that they have to have a group chat together. He walked off to exit the bar and called for a cab.

Minutes later Baekhyun came out of the bar, boxed smile in full force as he was laughing at something Jongdae said before he left. Baekhyun ran his fingers through his brown hair and sighed in content, looking towards Yixing. “So, we have a taxi or do I need to call one?’

“Called one while I was waiting, it’s down the block,” Yixing replied. Baekhyun hummed a reply, meaning then let’s go, and they walked down the street. 

Walking down the street, Yixing could see just how drunk Baekhyun was. Besides the way he slightly slurred his words earlier, Yixing could just barely see the way Baekhyun swayed under the street lights. He looked like he could tip over at any moment. Yixing grabbed Baekhyun’s arm and put his own arm through his. Baekhyun practically leaned into the contact, his head tilted towards Yixing’s shoulder. This would be romantic to Yixing, and it kind of was, but the moment was ruined by the fact that Yixing was also stumbling a bit on his feet. He wasn’t sure to blame the alcohol again or his nerves, but it cause Baekhyun’s head to constantly bump his shoulder.

“Why are you so clumsy all of a sudden? There’s no way you’re that drunk,” Baekhyun cackled.  
They finally found their taxi, Yixing helping Baekhyun into his seat before going into his own next to him. He told the taxi driver the address to his apartment and leaned back in his seat. He switched on his phone to see a couple of texts from Minseok and Jongdae, thanking him for coming out tonight and that they had a good time. He was typing a short message back when Baekhyun, who was quiet till now, mumbled something Yixing couldn't hear.

“Huh what was that?” Yixing stopping his typing to ask.

“I said, thank you for tonight.”

“Oh, I didn't do anything it was their idea like I said before-”

“Not for that,” Baekhyun interrupted, “well kind of for that but I mainly meant for reassuring me earlier, I might not look like it but I needed it.”

“You honestly didn't need it, it would be a shame for anyone not to love you.” Yixing said back to him softly, and Yixing prayed Baekhyun understood the implications of his words. If anything Yixing was glad his friends had the approval of someone Yixing has grown to care about fairly quickly; someone he’s grown to love in a matter of weeks. Yixing has learned so far in his experiences with Baekhyun that it’s not just a shame to love him but also impossible not to. 

But obviously drunk Baekhyun wasn’t getting any hidden meanings from his words, because he blurted out, “Besides I need to thank you cause I had fun! I know you said Jongdae was a bit similar to me, in which he totally is, because he’s loud too but he’s like such a good friend. He was telling me about his singing- I totally wanna sing with him one day! Minseok too they were telling me he could reach crazy high notes and I was like ‘No fucking way’ and they were like ‘Hell yeah!’ So they definitely have to show me! Man they have to meet Chanyeol some day we’d all get along great--”

Yixing spent the rest of the car ride back listening to Baekhyun go on about how much fun he had and how he loved Yixing’s friends. He was full of energy, talking his mouth off until he decided he’d rest his eyes instead. 

He texted Jongdae and Minseok a sincere ‘thanks a lot’, before putting his phone back into his pocket.

~ 

Yixing pulled the door to the apartment open and turned a lamp on, dropping his jacket on the edge of his sofa. All of a sudden Yixing was exhausted. He went towards his room, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt and flopping onto the bed. He’d change his clothes in the morning, he couldn't be fucked at all right now.

He shut his eyes and was all but ready to drift off into dreamland when he heard the creaking sound of his door opening. Baekhyun crawled in next to Yixing without a sound, adjusting himself next to Yixing.

Yixing cracked an eye open he was so confused. “What are you doing?” he whispered. He almost thought Baekhyun had fallen asleep already but he responded later.

“I want to lay with you, let me stay,” Baekhyun mumbled against Yixing's pillow, exhaustion clear in his voice.

Yixing didn't bother to respond, he was totally okay with this if he was being honest. What harm would it do just for Baekhyun to stay with him, in his bed for one night?

~ 

The sun shining in his eyes is what woke Yixing up that following morning. He groaned cursing himself for being lazy and not fixing the blind yesterday. He turned to his other side because he decided it was too early to get up. He was just about ready to return to his slumber, but he suddenly heard the soft breathing of someone else in his room. Oh right, Baekhyun. Wait _Baekhyun?_

Yixing shot his eyes open, being careful not to make any movements to wake Baekhyun up, even though he was ready to jump out of bed at this point. He tried to recall what happened last night, which was fairly simple to do since he hadn't drank too much the prior night. He was tired and immediately went to bed, and Baekhyun crawled in and that was literally all that happened. Though by the way their legs were tangled together they were definitely doing some form of cuddling. Oh god he was too scared to flip to the other side, but he wanted to before Baekhyun woke up.

Luck is never on Yixing's side because he noticed Baekhyun's eyes begin to flutter open. He squinted, staring at Yixing who couldn't help but stare back.

He shouldn't be seeing this, seeing Baekhyun in this state, it was another level of beauty to Baekhyun Yixing couldn't understand. How could someone look so good hungover and tired. He had crust in the corners of his eyes, his hair was tousled and messy all over the pillow his head rested on, his eyeliner and slight eyeshadow he’d worn the night before was smudged but even so, he looked incredible. It was starting to get unfair at this point. 

“Is there something on my face?” Baekhyun asked, voice full of sleep. His downturned lips formed into a pout, showing he was suffering a bit a hangover from the night before. 

“Well if I’m being honest,” Yixing softly touched Baekhyun's face, smearing more of Baekhyun's eye liner, “You’ve actually got something here.”

Baekhyun saw the makeup on the tip of Yixing's fingers and groaned, “Oh fuck. I didn't clean off my makeup my face is gonna break out,” he rested his head back on the pillow, “too late the damage is done I might as well accept it.”

They sat in silence for a bit listening to each other breathing. Yixing found it odd that with someone so full of life, things could get so quiet but it seems to be a common thing between them.

“Hey,” Baekhyun asked, Yixing hummed a yes for a response, “why did you look at me like that like you were earlier.” Baekhyun sounded a bit more serious than he had earlier.

Yixing wasn't about to confess, if this was a manhwa he was writing he would deem it way too early for the confessions, that's where everything changes.

“You look pretty all the time,” Yixing replied instead. It wasn't a lie, just wasn't the whole truth. He guessed that his response to the question was shocking to Baekhyun because he quickly sprung out of bed, talking about making breakfast and that Yixing was such a terrible flirt. He also mentioned to ‘save those lines for the romance manhwa’s because that’s where the cheesy shit belongs’. Also Yixing swore he saw Baekhyun's cheeks a shade pinker as he quickly got up and left.

Yixing laid his head back on the pillow and looked at the ceiling. He made a mental note to draw a scene where the couple look at each other awkwardly but also cutely.

5.

It's this time of year that really shows when it's spring. It's the pollen in the windy air, the warm hearted ballads talking of spring love, and of course cherry blossoms, that's how you know it's spring time. 

Which is why it was no surprise to Yixing when Baekhyun asked him to go see the cherry blossoms. 

“I’ve never seen the cherry blossoms in Seoul,” Baekhyun commented, Yixing himself had seen them a few times as he used them in reference for his drawings, but it had been a while, “and I saw on the news that they have fully blossomed, and well, Seoul Park has a lot of them right? I think they’re up the hill or something.” Baekhyun continued.

Yixing nodded, “That sounds fun, we could invite Jongdae and Minseok if you want,” Baekhyun had been spending many evenings with the pair, going to drinks, playing pool, karaoke, you name it they’ve done it. Yixing tagged along whenever Jongdae and or Baekhyun begged him to but otherwise he kept to himself inside. But he was glad Baekhyun had someone else to interact with, Yixing wasn't nearly as chatty as he’d like so he’d often talk away on the phone. 

Baekhyun shook his head, his fluffy hair shaking, reminding Yixing of a puppy if he was being honest, “It can be just us today. Besides I’m sure Jongdae wants to take Minseok on a date somewhere on this lovely spring day so I’ll let them be.” 

They decided that today would be a good day to ride the bike, and Yixing couldn't agree more. Nevermind the the fact that he was secretly yearning to hold Baekhyun, it was such a nice day it would have been a shame not to. 

So there they were, once again roaming down the streets on the bicycle. The scene was similar to the one before, when they had barely known each other except much more personal. Yixing squeezed Baekhyun’s sides whenever he said something silly or obnoxious that made Yixing blush, and Baekhyun would break out in a laugh threatening to throw him off the bike. 

Getting closer to the Park Yixing can already see the trees that Baekhyun is so excited to see.They’re beautiful, the big plants pink petals clear even from a distance. When they finally get to the entrance Yixing sees how tall the trees actually are, standing very much above both him and Baekhyun, though that’s not exactly difficult to accomplish.

Digging into the pockets of his jean jacket, Baekhyun finds the chain and lock for his bicycle and slides the bicycle into the biking rack, locking it in place. 

They begin to walk down the path of cherry blossom trees, when suddenly Baekhyun stopped. They’d stayed mostly quiet since they hopped off the bike, deciding they’d want to take the scenery in quietly. But obviously quiet doesn’t last long where you’re around Baekhyun, not that Yixing minded. Yixing stopped walking next to where Baekhyun stopped, very confused. He was about to ask what was wrong, when Baekhyun grabbed his hand, locking them together and intertwining the fingers.

“It wouldn’t make sense if we were at this romantic setting doing something unromantic,” Baekhyun spoke up looking ahead, “and I came here with a job to do, help you draw your manhwa, which you can’t do if we don’t experience these things.” 

“I appreciate what you’ve done for me so far, Baekhyun,” Yixing said.

“Like I said it’s no problem, I’ve noticed you’ve been drawing and working hard lately and I’m happy,” Baekhyun said with a small smile. They stopped to sit at a bench before Baekhyun spoke up again.

“So after this, is over, would you consider us friends?,” Baekhyun asked, looking a bit shy,“I mean I’m not going no where till I’m done with this list and we have a few to go but I’m just curious cause I kind of forced you into this and I don’t know if this is kind of annoying--” Baekhyun started rambling.

“What’s making you think this all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun sighed, “Typically places like these are for big scenes, confessions, relavations, stuff like that. We’re obviously not here for that we’re here for your work so it just had me thinking, do you just consider this work?”

Yixing pulled Baekhyun’s hand into his lap and squeezed it, because like Baekhyun just said, this place was practically made for confessions, but that’s not what they're here to accomplish,. “Of course you will be my friend Baekhyun, how could you not after all the help you’ve been to me.” Yixing snorted out a laugh, “Plus you’re friends with what very little friends I have, so why wouldn’t I?” 

“Hmm I don’t know, just making sure,” Baekhyun replied, “Speaking of work why won’t you let me see your drawings.”

“What do you mean? I have drawings all over the place in the apartment, I should really start cleaning up at some point,” Yixing answered back, he looked ahead at the families that were passing by them, admiring how happy they were.

However he obviously couldn’t be distracted for long, “Not those,” Baekhyun pouted, “the ones you do when you lock yourself in your room with the music turned on, the ones that are hidden away. I know those are where the magic is and I just want to see if I helped, even if a little.”

Yixing squeezed Baekhyun’s palms and gave a dimpled smile, chuckling slightly, so genuine and full of assurance. “I didn’t know you’d care so much, but since you’re so eager I promise you can see them soon.”

Baekhyun took his hands out of Yixing’s lap, bringing one slim finger to poke Yixing’s deep dimple, “I’ll hold you to your word Yixing.” He grinned poking his finger in and out of Yixing’s cheek, “Wow I didn’t realize this is so big, I bet I could live in it.”

“That’s gotta be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard you say and you say some crazy shit,”

Baekhyun gasped, flabbergasted,“What!?! Everything I say is calculated and with reason!”

“Baek, you learned Chinese, which I appreciate the thought, but the only thing you remember is how to say my butt is big.”

“What’s wrong with that? I was just stating facts,” Baekhyun broke out into a laugh quickly after finishing his statement. Not even he could believe what he just said.

“Come on now, you’ve seen it, it’s as flat as it get’s let not lie.” 

“Yeah you’re right I couldn’t keep up that lie, but you know what’s not flat? Mine. Now watch it as I run up this hill and ditch you,” Baekhyun did as he said and ran off, his loud laughter trailing behind as he ran up the hill to where the rest of the cherry blossoms were. Yixing swears he didn’t look at his butt, but maybe he did actually peek. 

Yixing lifted himself up off the bench, deciding he should do meet Baekhyun wherever he ran off. Slowly going up the hill Yixing couldn’t help but acknowledge just how beautiful this place was, with families and couples around. It was truly a setting full of happiness and love. It was no wonder there is a cliche of cherry blossoms in various genres of manhwa’s. He was even further pulled into his trance of the blossoms when he reached the top of the hill, because what he saw was stunning. 

With a bright wide boxed smile placed on his lips, the wind slightly caught on Baekhyun’s brown locks, blowing them slightly. Small pink petals blew next to him from the beautiful trees that were swaying, surrounding Baekhyun. It looked straight out of a manhwa and Yixing had it ingrained into his mind; he had to draw this. 

“Isn’t it beautiful Yixing? There’s no way you could draw your manhwa without any cherry blossoms, I mean look at this,” Baekhyun shouted, once his eyes spotted Yixing. He waved his arms widely in the air to catch Yixing’s attention, not aware he had it from the start. But Yixing was so focused on the sight he was witnessing right in front that he couldn’t answer back properly.

Yixing was too entranced to by the scene and his thoughts that he just gave a small wave in Baekhyun’s direction. Baekhyun looked towards him with a confused expression, motioning for Yixing to come towards him. 

But before Yixing could even move forward he came to the conclusion to two things he had been in deep thought about. Yixing learned two things that day. He knew exactly what is was about the cherry blossoms that made him love them so much. They were bright, beautiful, and delicate, just like Baekhyun. He also realized that if he knows what love is, it's because of Baekhyun.

_Holding her bike at her waist, the girl glides it with her as she goes up the hill. The couples and families around gave a feeling that nothing but love is what filled this park she was getting deep into. This made it so she could barely contain the anxiousness and excited that was developing within her. Her crush texted her telling her to meet her up the hill at the park, saying he had something important to show her. She wondered if he was going to confess his feelings; that he felt the same way about her that she did about him. A blush deepened on her cheeks at even the thought of being in such a scene, it was too much for her heart to handle._

_Reaching the top of the hill the wind starts to pick up. She runs her available hand through her hair, attempting to get the strands out of her eyes. Once she able to see she looks up, searching for her crush. There were people all around taking pictures of the trees, that it was hard to place exactly where he was._

_She finally finds when when she reaches the back of the area, leaning against a wooden fence. She wheeled her bike next to the fence and leaned it against fence, walking closer towards her crush._

_She stands next to him, though with some distance between them, playing with her fingers timidly. Her crush had barely acknowledged her and she was unsure of what exactly do with herself. Right before she decided to speak up, he spoke._

_“It’s very calming here right? I don’t ask a lot of people to come here with me, but you’re special, I just had to,” he said, looking up towards the trees. She looked up also, looking at the frail, pink petals falling towards the ground._

_“It is really beautiful. I hadn’t seen the cherry blossoms in person like this,” she softly spoke._

_Her crushes’ mochi cheeks rise into a bright smile, finally looking toward her, “Well then I’m really glad you came. I wanted this to be special somehow,” he said._

_She smiled, dimples poking out of her cheeks, nodding and humming in response. She’d be glad to spend the whole day here; just with him. They might not be here for confessions but what they were doing, on this day, was special enough without one._

~ 

Yixing finally had enough content drawn in order to send in a rough draft of the first volume for his manhwa. He didn’t use all the drawing he had based on the specific events, as it would carry the plot on too fast, but created a basis of how his female and male protagonist meet and begin to create a connection. It may be similar to his current condition, where his female protagonist's mom knows the parents of the male protagonist, and they move in next door.

Even though he was literally basing it off his experiences with Baekhyun he just didn’t have the guts to show him any of the drawings, especially the plot. He promised Baekhyun, and Baekhyun was sure to whine and remind him of the promise, but he delayed it, saying after he gets the okay from his father he could see what Yixing has created so far.

He was luckily saved from having to do so for even longer, when Yixing received an email from Baekhyun’s father:

Dear Yixing,

I’ve checked out what you’ve got, sent this to the company, but from what I’ve seen you definitely are going to get the okay. It obviously needs some editing and coloring and finishing touches but it looks like you’ve created a real winner yet again .All of us knew you’d get out of this funk you were in, but to be honest didn’t actually know if my son was going to be of much help. Glad to see I was proven wrong. I know you and Baekhyun have worked so hard, so come by my office as soon as you can, I’ll give you guys the keys to the beach house in Busan for a few days. Feel free to bring anyone else, though I definitely recommend bringing Xiumin and Chen with you, I’m sick of their lovey dovey asses being in this office all day everyday. Make sure you have some fun and celebrate your success, you’ve earned it for sure.

-Mr. Byun 

Yixing showed Baekhyun his father’s email, angling his laptop’s screen so Baekhyun could see next to him. Baekhyun tapped a few times on his phone, being leaning over to Yixing’s direction.

“We’ll also have to go get the keys from him then, and also tell Jongdae and Minseok that they’re coming,” Baekhyun adjusted the strands of his hair, which were now dyed into a pitch black, “Plus, I’ve always wanted to see where you and my dad worked,” He said going back to tapping his phone.

“He’s never taken you? I swear I’ve seen you and your brother around,”

Baekhyun shook his head,“Probably was just my brother, I wasn’t too interesting in whatever my dad was doing at work. Knew he was a manager for some artists and writers but I simply wasn’t interested, until now anyways.” 

Yixing decided he wasn’t going to look further into what exactly Baekhyun meant by being uninterested until now. He couldn’t tell anymore if Baekhyun was dropping hints or was just really good at doing his job. And he wasn’t going to try to decipher the hidden meanings of Baekhyun any longer. 

“Why don’t you stop playing your phone game and call them. Tell them we’re stopping by soon too,”

“Sure, right after I finish this level. I’ve been working on it forever and I think I can beat it now,” Baekhyun tapped away on his phone, tongue slightly sticking out the corner of his mouth,\ in concentration.

“How can someone so grown look so much like a child,” Yixing muttered, laughing in disbelief. Baekhyun apparently finished the level, because his screen showed text messages. It also was a dead give away he was done as he’d made a small shout of victory, something he often did when he was video games, cause yes he was loud when he played games too. 

“Okay okay don’t have to tease me to make me do something I’ll text them and call them right now,” He walked towards the back room, because he was a loud speaker and didn’t want to disturb Yixing any more while he was working.

~ 

Entering the building Yixing looked right for where Mr. Byun’s office would be. Baekhyun occupied himself with Jongdae discussing what the driving arrangements would be to Busan. Baekhyun said something about it would be more fun if they all shared a car, similarly to a road trip. Yixing honestly didn't mind how they got there at this point.

Knocking on the door he heard a muffled come in. He grabbed the knob and opened the door, closely it silently behind him. Mr. Byun looked up from his desk, glasses lower on his nose. He was clearly occupied with some paper work if the amount of paper and files on his desk were anything to go by. 

“Oh hello Yixing, it's been awhile since I've seen you in the flesh.” 

Yixing nodded, “It has been a while, nice to see you sir.”

Mr. Byun dug around his bag, looking for something. He found a key chain with various shapes and colors and keys, and inspected each one until he found the one he was looking for. 

“Before I give you this,” he said, “I’ve got a question, do you like Baekhyun?”

If Yixing had a drink in his mouth he would have done a spit take. But instead he gave a look of surprise and embarrassment, clearly thrown off guard by the question.

“I ask this because I went through the drawings, the girl looks awful like you and the boy, well he's literally a Baekhyun. I know artists take inspiration from real life every day but it's a spitting image,” Mr. Byun chuckled. He adjusted the papers on his desk, Yixing assumed he was waiting for Yixing to come up with a rebuttal.

“I can alter the boy’s appearance so he looks a little different--” 

Mr. Byun stopped him he placed his pen down walking closer to where Yixing stood, “There’s no need. Do you know why I sent my son to you? Not because I wanted to, he was a fan of yours, read every copy of manhwa you drew or wrote for, he wanted to meet you so bad, so I said he could if he was useful.” 

Yixing honestly wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond or say anything at all for that matter, so he settled for just nodding and listening. 

“I’m glad I made the decision because you both look very happy together. I mean Baek’s a happy kid but he's sensitive too. I’ve wanted him to do something with himself and it seems to me he has. My point is you guys make a good fit. Just know if you plan on moving forward with him I wish you luck. I’ve worked with you for quite a few years and I know you're deserving of my son. Now go have fun at the beach.” He placed the key into Yixing's pocket patted his shoulders and walked back towards his desk. 

Yixing walked out with some confidence he didn't have before. If he had his manager’s okay with Baekhyun there was very little stopping them from being together and that was them themselves.

~ 

Jongdae, Minseok and Baekhyun came to an agreement that they’d share Minseok’s car for the ride to Busan. Minseok also didn’t trust anyone with his car so he would be driving as well. Seeing Baekhyun’s driving, and knowing how reckless Jongdae could be on the wheel Yixing honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. They decided that the days they’d take off would be the up coming Monday, as Jongdae wanted to finish editing a book that was sent to him earlier.

Baekhyun suggested that they go shopping for more appropriate attire for the beach and Yixing agreed. Going to the nearest outlet they went shopping, getting new shorts, shirts and things for the beach.

When the day came for the roadtrip, Yixing was oddly excited, he’d been working hard the weekend trying to get a little ahead in his drafts, against Baekhyun’s wishes. Baekhyun just wanted him to rest till they get back from their trip but Yixing had never known how to stop working once he’s started. He promised Baekhyun he’d bring absolutely no art supplies on their trip in order to please Baekhyun.

“You promised me you’d show me the draft of your manhwa and you lied, how do I know you’ll keep this promise?” Baekhyun pointed out. He was shoving some beach wear lazily into his suitcase. None of it was folded whatsoever.

“I didn’t lie, I just put it off, I’ll show you at some point,”

“At this point I’m going to have to wait until the first volume is finished huh?”

“Maybe, but it’ll be worth it?”

6.

Jongdae and Minseok came to pick up Baekhyun and Yixing at noon as they went over the night before. Seeing then pull up Baekhyun wheeled his suitcase to the end of the street, hollering at them. 

Out of the car Jongdae and Yixing offered to fill the trunk with their suitcases, while Baekhyun bothered Minseok about his poor play at League of Legends the night before.

“So are you planning to get laid during this vacation or what,” Jongdae said lowly, lifting Baekhyun's overstuffed suitcase into the trunk.

“Why would I ever do that? You don't think I have a plan Jongdae?”

“You might, but I’m not sure how longer you can hold out if I’m being honest. The sexual tension is real.”

“You might wanna worry about your own problems, you wouldn't want me and Baekhyun to use any of your condoms cause you’ll need all you can get,” Yixing retorted.

“Why always the jokes! I’m just trying to help you once again and you're talking--”

“Jongdae I can hear you whining from here, hurry up already!” Minseok shouted from the front of the car. 

Looking defeated, Jongdae gave a “it's not over” look to Yixing and retreated to his side of the car. Yixing stifled a laugh watching him go, Jongdae was so whipped. Closing the trunk he went to his respective seat, in the back next to a excited Baekhyun.

Setting off to Busan with his friends, Yixing felt at ease like he hadn't before. It was comforting knowing they were all cramped in this car to help him relax and have fun but more importantly; support him. Yixing was starting to think the reason he’d had such a big writer’s block was because of the lack of support he had, though he did this to himself by distancing himself from everyone. But with Baekhyun, someone who was determined to help and support Yixing no matter what, he doesn’t have those problems anymore. With Baekhyun ideas are just flowing from the way Baekhyun talks, Baekhyun acts, Baekhyun lives.

The loud laughing of Baekhyun on his side snapped Yixing from his thoughts. He was leaning forward in his seat, trying to be as physically possible to Jongdae in the front passenger seat. They were clearly teasing Minseok for something as he was telling them to leave him alone while he was driving, turning up the volume of the radio to drown them out. This worked as they seemed to be distracted by whatever song was on the radio, and Baekhyun and Jongdae sang along to it. 

Minutes later, Baekhyun told Jongdae to turn the music down, suddenly having something he wants to say, “So I’ve always wondered, why you guys have the work names you do. Like where did Chen, Xiumin and Lay come from?”

“Well for us,” Minseok waved in Jongdae’s general direction, “we have these names because the original publishing and editing company we worked for was in China, so we created these names to blend I guess. It’s actually where we first edited and published for Yixing. But we were moved to Korea and kept the names when credited because that’s how most people know us.” Jongdae grinned in agreement.

“And what about you Yixing, you’ve never told me?”

Yixing shrugged, “Honestly I just needed something short and simple to keep myself anonymous besides with friends. Didn’t want people to know it’s me and everywhere I go they ask me to sign a book,” he replied. 

“Oh. Kinda boring I was expecting more to be honest,” Baekhyun yawned. He gave Yixing a sheepish grin before leaning back on his seat, looking out of the window.

Minutes later the car wasn’t nearly as rowdy as when they started their trip. It was fairly quiet, the radio turned up to a soft volume, and Jongdae and Minseok chatting quietly in the front. He could hear Jongdae slightly whining about being hungry and how they should of brought snacks, but Yixing kept his earbuds in his ears, slightly bobbing his head to the music looking at the things they passed by. During his stay in Korea he’s stayed relatively only in Seoul, never having a reason to venture out for any reason. He’d never been to Busan so he was quite curious as to what it’s like, since they would be near the beach and all.

He was going to ask Baekhyun, who must know since his dad owned the house they were staying in, when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly all he sees is black hair peripheral, meaning it (obviously) Baekhyun leaning on him. He could hear slight noises coming from the shorter man, meaning he was sound asleep. 

Yixing couldn’t even try to escape from Baekhyun to avoid embarrassment, as Baekhyun was clingy in his sleep and had a tight grip around Yixing’s arm. So instead he just laughed softly to himself, petting the top of Baekhyun’s soft hair.

Jongdae looked back, probably to say something to Baekhyun when he noticed the pair. He gave a sly grin and pulled out his phone, taking a couple pictures of Baekhyun cuddling with Yixing.

“I’m going to show these to Minseok once we arrive. This is perfect blackmail,” Jongdae whispered snickering. 

Yixing rolled his eyes, “As if I don’t have any dirt on you from these past few years,” Yixing smiled when Baekhyun adjusted himself, softly breathing onto Yixing, “Also send me those photos later I could use them as inspiration.”

It takes a matter of a few hours for them finally reach their destination, Gwangali beach. The mansion looking building is rested between other expensive looking houses, shops, and the beach itself. Yixing wondered just how much Baekhyun’s father had, he had a somewhat high income job working with writers but this beach house looked like a million bucks. Jongdae charged ahead brushing past everyone as Baekhyun unlocked the door, flopping onto the couch expressing how exhausted he was. Minseok muttered that he wasn’t the one who was driving and had to listen to Jongdae talk the whole time. Yixing and Baekhyun grabbed what little luggage they had brought tucked away in the trunk during the short ride there.

“So obviously, You’ll be staying with Baekhyun while Minseok and I share a room, right?” Jongdae asked. His voice was muffled through the pillow he had his mouth pressed against. 

As that’s what they figured what was going to happen, Yixing agreed. He grabbed his suitcases, going up the staircase to find an empty room, Baekhyun close behind.

Yixing pushed the door open to see a comfortable sized room lit in the daylight sun. It was filled with a dresser, lamps, small closet, a small table and most notably to Yixing, a queen sized bed.

“Oh looks like we’ve gotten the master bedroom. I wasn’t sure which room it was in anymore so I thought we could pick the room by chance. What a coincidence,” Baekhyun spoke up behind him. Yixing turned his head to see Baekhyun sporting a playful smirk. Something about this wasn’t exactly a coincidence to Yixing, but he kept quiet.

 

“If we have this room then Minseok and Jongdae have the room that me and my brother used to share.” Baekhyun informed Yixing, “That one has two beds unlike this one, they’ll probably be so jealous.” Baekhyun winked. 

Baekhyun walked over to the window, a large view of the beach and the boardwalk in front of him. He sighed in content clearly thinking about something while admiring the view. Yixing kept himself busy by emptying his suitcases and putting his clothes and other things away. 

“You know, the last time I went here was when my brother graduated university.” Baekhyun said. 

Yixing looked up, curiosity on his face with Baekhyun’s sudden statement “Is that so?”

“Yeah, It was a shit vacation. Just my dad trying to say how useful my brother was going to be in the future with his degree. It pissed me off so I swore I’d never go here again.”

“Then--”

“But this time we’re here for different reasons and I want to be here. In fact I’m glad I’m back.”

“Well if it means anything we’re not just here for me, we’re here because of both of our hard work.”

Baekhyun’s eyes crinkled as he smiled, “Yeah I know, thank you. Besides you wouldn’t be anywhere in this house without my dad so of course we’re here because of me!” Baekhyun said smugly. 

If Baekhyun was any closer to him he would have kicked him, or kissed him, he isn’t so sure which one he wants more anymore.

~ 

After they settled in their respective rooms, Minseok, Jongdae, Yixing & Baekhyun gathered together, deciding to take a quick stroll along the boardwalk of the beach. Baekhyun mentioned that they came at a good time of the year, late spring, because although there were a lot of people here this was when the weather is the best. Minseok argued that early spring would also be ideal despite the weather being a bit cool and less people, which prompted Baekhyun to tell him to go outside more.

Either time of the year, Yixing was happy that they went. Yixing could feel himself getting excited for getting to relax on the beach as this vacation is all about relaxing and getting away from his draining work schedule as flexible as it was. Yixing enjoyed walking with his friends, chatting about what to do during the break, the only other noise being the crash of the waves and the chatter of people walking along the boardwalk. 

They walked until the sun went down, deciding to stop by a bar on the way back to the house. As they entered, they noticed the small bar filled with tourists. The music boomed as Jongdae shouted that he would find them a table. He managed to find a booth towards the back of the bar for the rest of them to sit in. They play rock paper sizes for who will sacrifice themselves into the crowd and get them some drinks. To everyone’s delight, it was Minseok who lost. He got up, asking the group what they want to drink. 

Minseok came back carrying a tray of soju, and some other fruity drinks he thought they could try. He cursed under his breathe as he set the glasses down, saying how he was lucky he didn’t spill anything since he was so small and all those people towered over him.

“Well maybe you should have drank more milk when you were younger so you would grow taller.” Jongdae snickered.

Minseok rolled his eyes, lifting his bottle for a sip, “As if you’re one to talk. All of us are small as hell.”

“Next time I’ll have to bring my friends Chanyeol and Sehun, they’re tall so they can tower over people. We can use them as slaves to get our drinks,” Baekhyun replied, taking a large drink of his vodka drink. Yixing felt his lips raise into a smile. The idea that they was going to be a next time, and possibly a meeting of Baekhyun’s friends sounded very promising to him. 

Similarly to their first night out, a few drinks in their system and their booth started to get lively. Whenever a song that both Jongdae and Baekhyun knew turned on in the bar, they both would make it a competition to who can sing the loudest, often making a few heads turn in their direction. Minseok and Yixing were damage control, making or rather, attempting to make Jongdae and Baekhyun calm down, though laughing along to their antics. Jongdae whined that they never let them sing and Baekhyun retorted his voice sucked anyways, causing Jongdae to tackle Baekhyun. 

They decided to leave a little soon after, deciding they didn’t want to be completely hungover while they spent the next day at the beach. 

Sighing in exhaustion, Yixing rolled over onto the bed with a inebriated Baekhyun aside him. He mumbled something, though Yixing wasn’t quite able to understand it Yixing asked him to repeat himself but instead he decided to sleep, scooting closer to Yixing’s back. Yixing tried to ignore the fact that Baekhyun’s mouth was so close to the back of his neck that he could feel his breathing, he could smell the alcohol on his breathe. 

As opposed to fighting the ticklish sensation he got from the contact, Yixing was busy battling the rapid beating of his heart.

~ 

“So what time are we going to go to the beach, cause it’s going to get busy fast,” Minseok said over breakfast the following morning. Yixing is sat, across from a grumpy Baekhyun who had his head leaning on his hands, clearly suffering a bit from a hangover. Yixing isn’t shocked to see Baekhyun in this state as he is a lighter drinker but is always shocked when Minseok and Jongdae are able to function like normal despite the large amount of drinks they consumed. Even Yixing himself was suffering a bit though was able to hide it well.

“I can’t believe you’re thinking about the beach after all that drinking we did last night,” Baekhyun groaned into his palms.

“Lighten up will ya? We’re on vacation so we gotta party hard while we’re here.” Jongdae said back. He patted Baekhyun’s back and carried a glass of orange juice back to the living room.

“We could go a little later in the evening so that Mr. Grumpy over here can have time to get over his hangover.” Minseok suggested. It wasn’t the most ideal time because it will likely be when the beach will be the busiest, but it would have to do. “If that’s alright with you anyways Yixing, we are technically here because of you.”

Recalling the conversation Yixing had with Baekhyun yesterday, he didn’t agree with that statement, “We’re not just here because of me, so I’m willing to wait.” Yixing looked towards Baekhyun,hoping he would understand the subtle meaning to his words. He was met with a Baekhyun planting his face first onto the table. He sighed.

A couple pills and a nap for Baekhyun later, they were more than ready to finally hit the beach. After minutes of searching around on the hot sand, they were able to find a spot for their towels, the beach as busy as they predicted. 

Resting his things on the sand, Yixing reached for the hem of his shirt to pull it off. He reached for the sun screen but noticed it being snatched. Baekhyun beamed at Yixing, telling him to turn around so he can apply the lotion.

This wouldn’t have been as awkward for Yixing if Baekhyun didn’t have to be an obnoxious flirt all the damn time.

‘Oh you’re so fit’ ‘Look at these shoulders’ and ‘how do you have such a nice body’ spilled out of Baekhyun’s mouth as he slowly rubbed Yixing’s back.

“You say all this as if you’re not fit yourself Baek, I’ve seen you’re toned stomach” Yixing replied back.

Jongdae faked a gagging noises, “Can you guys not be so disgustingly mushy right in front of us? It’s revolting.”

“As if you aren’t making googly eyes at Minseok’s abs and back Jongdae, you should learn to keep quiet,” Baekhyun retorted.

Jongdae sputtered before continuing to apply sunscreen to his legs. Minseok laughed under his breath, waving Jongdae to apply sunscreen his back so he’d feel better. Obviously he was happy to do so.

Jongdae decided they had to play volleyball, which a net just so happened to be free close by to their things. It was obviously Jongdae and Minseok verses Baekhyun and Yixing, which Yixing was very satisfied with.

Honestly Yixing was determined to beat the pair, as the last time they’d played a sport they’d been beaten Yixing pretty badly, and Yixing was competitive. 

With Yixing as the server and Baekhyun as the setter, they had an intense game of volleyball on the hot sand. Baekhyun was good, and their synergy was matched by Jongdae and Minseok’s, keeping the game close. They were even drawing attention from tourists who decided to watch the hot young men play, which honestly to Yixing is expected.

Things that Yixing wasn’t expecting to happen, however was Baekhyun’s tank top being soaked with sweat, his wet hair clinging to his skin. He was also toned, the slight muscles on his arms noticeable. He looked good. He looked so good in fact, it was distracting, so much so that he missed hits when taking a peek at Baekhyun. 

Yixing tried his best to ignore it, this wasn’t his first time seeing Baekhyun so what was the big deal. But it was too much to the point that Yixing missed a serve point blank when Baekhyun lifted his shirt to wipe his face (seriously who knew he was so fit). So he called it quits, lying about how he was hungry and it was affecting his play.

“More like thirsty,” is what Jongdae snickered, passing a piece of watermelon to Yixing. Yixing pushed sand into his face, a poor attempt to hide the flustered look yet again on his face.

~ 

The next few days go by quickly despite how eventful they were. They’d spent a couple days at the beach, either playing in the water,sunbathing or playing volleyball. Jongdae got a bit of sunburn, as he was lazy in deciding to apply lotion on of those days. They spent another day visiting the boardwalk and town close to the beach. Baekhyun and Yixing rented bicycles to ride together, though admittedly Yixing thought riding with Baekhyun on the same bike was much better. They also went drinking most of the nights, though with more moderation than the first night. That allowed them to other things like sing karaoke afterwards.

Once sunset hit, they were ready to leave the beach, waving goodbye to the beach house. Minseok drove (again) and Jongdae rode shotgun quietly humming along to the radio. It was a lot quieter than it had been when they got there, all their energy being used up on the beach. 

Yixing started to doze off as it was so calming in the car. As much fun he was having he was ready to go, itching to get his fingers on a pen, his ideas on paper. 

He was all but ready to sleep the rest of the ride back when he felt a finger poke his cheek. He poked one eye open to see Baekhyun looking at him expectedly. He gave a small smile and closed his eyes, pretending to still be asleep.

Baekhyun was clearly not amused, continuously poking the cheek, sticking his finger in Yixing’s dimple once he’s unable to hide it.

“Come on wake up I know you’re faking it! Don’t make me blow on your neck!”

“Woah! Wait till you guys get home before you do any blowing. You still have company here.” Jongdae called from the front.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, a typical response to Jongdae. Yixing put his hands up in surrender, “Alright before this conversation takes a turn to the worst, what do you need?”

“I just wanted to know, if you had a good time?” Baekhyun pouted.

“Oh. Wasn’t it obvious, of course I did.”

“Good. One of my many missions while I’m still here was during this little vacation to make sure you had fun.”

“Well consider it mission accomplished,” Yixing said. He leaned slightly towards Baekhyun to ruffle his hair. Baekhyun looked down, hiding the smile that formed on his lips.

“Aww how cute, Minseok when will you-- Ow!” Jongdae rubbed his arm in pain. Minseok held his available hand up in the air, ready to swat again if necessary.

“Don’t distract me while I’m driving,” Minseok said eyes focused on the road. Yixing noticed the slight rose color spreading on Minseok’s cheeks.

~ 

Once they got back to work, time flew so fast in front of Yixing. The month doing the finishing touches to his work felt like mere days.

If it was even possible, Yixing spent nearly all his time in his small studio, drawing out the remaining scenes that would be necessary for the first volume. He was so focused on his craft he only left to use the bathroom, forgetting to feed himself. This made Baekhyun handy as he offered to cook for Yixing. He was grateful for Baekhyun no matter how simple the meal was, if it was for himself to cook he would have starved by now. 

Baekhyun cared for him like no other person would, urging him to take breaks and go on walks or to sleep or eat. Even when Yixing said he was fine he was persistent on making sure Yixing was of good health. It honestly made Yixing feel bad for being kept up in his room all day. Baekhyun was so important and he didn’t even fully understand why.

Almost everything was done, well on his part, once he had a cover for the first volume, it would be all up to his editing team. Jongdae and Minseok had been editing for him for years, so he had faith in their work. Also he’d have to ask his manager to set up an interview with a shoujo magazine to create some buzz but otherwise everything would be out of his hands. He’d have a whole couple of week of freedom before his volume would be released, as soon as he had a cover.

He wasn’t exactly sure what type of image to use, for the manhwa, but something to grab readers new and old alike to prove that the characters had some sort of connection. He also wanted it to be a picture that was truly representative of his characters, and Baekhyun and Yixing themselves, or it wasn’t worthy of a cover. The first things that come to Yixing’s mind are all the cliches and tropes he’d drawn. However, in order to get the full experience from the drawings he needed to create backstory and character development, which required them to be used for later chapters.

Except, the one on the way to beach. Yixing hadn’t even remembered the photo Jongdae had taken on Baekhyun and him, despite asking him to send it to him. He unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts, quickly finding Jongdae.

[Yixing]:  
U still have that pic of baek and me?

[Jongdae]:  
Hi to you, the one with him leaning on your shoulder

[Jongdae]:  
Yeah i have it u want me to send it?

[yixing]:  
That’ll be great thank you.

A slight vibration in his phone and the image shined on his screen. The picture was perfect, Baekhyun cutely snuggling into Yixing’s shoulder while asleep, and Yixing’s soft blush on his face, looking endearing at Baekhyun. It was a bit embarrassing to just see how obviously infatuated Yixing was with Baekhyun at this point but nonetheless with adjustments no other picture would be perfect for a volume cover.

~ 

All it took was a couple of days and he was done. Yixing was sent the interview questions from his manager and answered them for the magazine. He even created a drawing for the cover of the magazine as his new manhwa was going to be the feature for the next volume.

His hard work was paying off, allowing him a couple of days off before he would have to immediately start working on the next volume. Manhwa required all the time and attention he had but know he could focus on other things, on Baekhyun.

Exiting his room in what feels like days Yixing flopped onto the couch next to a bored looking Baekhyun. He looked over to Yixing's side, perplexed by the grin Yixing had on his face. 

“Well it's nice to see you out of your room for a change,” Baekhyun shifted to face directly at Yixing, “What’s with the look?”

Yixing grinned harder, “The look is for the fact that I’m officially done with the first volume of my manhwa. I have a couple days of freedom now.”

Baekhyun's face dropped before quickly recovering into a fake smile, “Oh. that's great! I’m glad for you.”

Yixing frowned, grabbing Baekhyun's hands squeezing them slightly, “Is something wrong? I know two days isn't a lot--”

Baekhyun interrupted, quickly removing his hands from Yixing's grasp. His hands never felt so empty.

“No seriously it's fine, we should go celebrate, I’ll by a cake.” He forced a smile, quickly grabbing his eyes and rushing out the door. Odd was the only way Yixing could describe what just happened.

To what feels like an eternity, Baekhyun finally came back to the apartment, looking much brighter than before and cake box in hand. 

“That took a while,” Yixing said nonchalantly.

“Oh I took a small car ride, needed fresh air,” Baekhyun replied smoothly stuffing his keys into his pockets.

“I kinda rushed out without asking you what flavor you wanted and was embarrassed to ask so I went with a simple strawberry shortcake.” Baekhyun said leaving the cake on the counter. He went into drawers to look for a knife while Yixing walked into the kitchen eyeing Baekhyun curiously.

Whatever was wrong with Baekhyun, Yixing was determined to get to the bottom of. He watched Baekhyun as he ate the cake, quietly humming to himself as he forked each piece into his mouth. Baekhyun seemed purposely distracted, looking at anywhere besides Yixing.

Yixing put his fork down, “Baekhyun,” He said.

“Hmm? What’s up not liking the cake?” the younger asked barely looking at Yixing. 

“No that’s not it,” Yixing said, pushing Baekhyun’s plate to the side.

“What--”

“What’s wrong with you? Why did you storm out earlier.”

“Oh it was--”

“Don’t say it’s nothing I want to know what’s wrong,”

Baekhyun deeply sighed, he finally looked up to Yixing’s eyes. They were filled with sadness. “I just- I’m a little sad because you being done with you’re first volume, it means I’m done here. Plus I’ll have to go to school in the fall. So I’ll be leaving soon.”

Yixing had almost completely forgotten Baekhyun was here for a job, for a favor for his father. Almost, because as much as he wanted to forget, the thought lingered, Baekhyun was here only temporarily. His job was done here, he had no reason to continue to stay at Yixing’s apartment. As much as Yixing loves the isolation, he was enjoying the company even more.

“But it’s okay, we can celebrate your success while I’m still here and I won’t leave right away as I’ve gotta set up a roommate. I don’t want to kill the mood,” Baekhyun pouted.

The least he could do, with all the help Baekhyun’s gave him along this journey, is play along and enjoy each other's company while it lasted. 

He grabbed Baekhyun’s plate of cake and scooped up a forkful and smiled, “Well you want to celebrate, then let’s celebrate,” He quickly poked the cake, whipping whipped cream onto Baekhyun’s bubbly cheek.

Baekhyun gasped and barked out a laugh, quickly grabbed a handful of cake and threatening to throw it at Yixing. 

Needless to say by the time they were done there was cake everywhere and kitchen needing to be cleaned. Yixing didn’t mind the mess honestly, as long as they stayed happy he was fine.

~ 

It had been two weeks since Yixing published his first volume of his new manhwa If It Isn't Love and although he was excited for his fresh start, sadness hid underneath it.

The manhwa being completed meant it was time for Baekhyun to go home and Yixing isn’t so sure he wants that anymore. The start of a manhwa series has never been so bittersweet for Yixing, and he hopes he never has to go through this slight heartbreak again.

After Baekhyun told Yixing that he would leave in two weeks since his job here was done, he barely brought up the topic of leaving. Yixing offered to Baekhyun that he could stay until school started up again, however Baekhyun was adamant that he couldn't and he had found another place to stay. So instead of addressing their problems, in manhwa fashion, they'd spent the remainder of their time together trying to pretend nothing was wrong, but it was clearly noticeable. 

Baekhyun did what he usually did when he was nervous, which was be fidgety, and he always had a look as if he has something important to say but couldn't say it. Yixing didn’t even bother asking, knowing the younger would deflect when questioned. Yixing brushed it off as Baekhyun was going to miss Yixing as a roommate he was going to miss Baekhyun as well. He was messy, loud, and always wanted to do things Yixing didn't want to do, which Yixing loved.

But with Baekhyun having school in the fall, and Yixing too much of a scaredy cat to say that he likes Baekhyun, two weeks went by and it was time for him to go.

As much as Yixing promised himself and Jongdae for a ‘confession scene’ soon, writing and saying it in real life were two completely different things. Which is why he left a message directly in his manhwa, praying Baekhyun would read it before he would have to go, as he was so eager to read Yixing's work.

He didn't. 

Baekhyun grabbed his suitcases, dropping them in front of the door, "I completed my goal of helping you start your manhwa. So it's best I get outta your way quickly." 

Feeling his heart strings tug, Yixing looks away from Baekhyun. If Yixing had a choice in the matter he'd stay, but it’s out of his hands. "Thanks. For everything. You don't realize how important this was for me." 

Laughing weakly, Baekhyun answered, "Don't be so sappy Xingie. My dad's still your manager so you'll still see me around. Just no more adventures huh?" 

"Yeah no more."

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Baekhyun coughed,"Well I'm going to get going. I'll see you later Yixing." He grabbed his suitcases and walked out the door, out of Yixing's life.

It had only been twenty minutes but Yixing could feel the absence of Baekhyun in his apartment. It was quiet, much too quiet, and while Yixing used to find it comforting it is now unwelcoming. Trying to distract himself, Yixing does what he knows best and draws . Pressing play on his iphone and starting music, he outlines the sketches for the next volume of his manhwa. 

Getting lost in the sketch of his main protagonist he doesn't hear knocking at his door. 

He doesn't lose his focus until he heard a message notification on his phone. Figuring it was Jongdae or Junmyeon, he unlocks his phone.

Yixing is shocked to say the least, so see messages from Baekhyun so quickly after leaving.

[Baekhyunnie]  
I completely forgot something important, im coming back

Yixing hears the knocking against his door and walked over to it. Opening the door, he expected Baekhyun to walk inside, but he doesn't. 

Baekhyun stared at Yixing, clearly anxious, and spoke, "I- we didn't do one of the most common cliches in manhwa history. Love at first sight. There's no way I could leave without accomplishing it. It's like a staple of all romance manhwa.”

 

Baekhyun spun around, having his back towards Yixing at the doorway. Yixing heard Baekhyun release a heavy sigh before he turned back towards him, taking his hand out. 

 

"Hello I'm Byun Baekhyun, I'm in love with you. It's nice to meet you."

Yixing chuckled, dimple sticking out. He knew where Baekhyun was going with this. "I'm Zhang Yixing, Nice to meet you as well, I'm in love with you too." 

Yixing barely got his sentence out before Baekhyun leaped forward wrapping his arms around Yixing's neck, kissing him. He kissed his neck, his cheeks, nose and lips. Everywhere Baekhyun could reach he kissed Yixing. 

Yixing stumbled back, trying to hold a grip on Baekhyun's waist and kiss back. Baekhyun's lips were as soft as he imagined, maybe even softer.

"I'm sorry." Baekhyun paused, "I've wanted to do this since before the day we almost kissed at Han River. I’ve wanted this for so long, I couldn't wait anymore." 

Yixing laughed against Baekhyun's cheek, pecking it. "I think I've wanted this even before then if I’m being honest."

Yixing stopped kissing Baekhyun who looked up at him with disappointment, “I know, you wanna kiss but we have all night. Did you ever read the author’s note at the end of my first volume?” Yixing asked.

Baekhyun shook his head, “I never got a chance to read it actually, kind of reminded me I would have to leave soon.”

“I’m glad you didn't till now, let me show you something,” Yixing walked to the back of the apartment to find his copy of the manhwa. Grabbing it off the desk he brought it over to Baekhyun, flipping all the way to the back.

“Here read this,” Yixing said lightly pushing the book towards Baekhyun.

Baekhyun looked confused at first, why would Yixing just interrupt the sweet moment they were having. But Yixing urged him to read the note. Reading, Baekhyun's warm smile began to spread across his lips. He looked up at Yixing with wide eyes and kissed him again, dropping the book on the floor.

 

_Authors Note:  
I’d first like to dedicate this series to my fans. The first thing I owe you is a long awaited apology. I know you had to wait for something from me for the longest and I truly hope it was worth even half the wait. My gratitude towards you all is timeless and I will continue to put out things for your enjoyment for as long as I can. Because without you who would I be? _

_I also want to thank my publisher company. My editors, screen toners, outliners, and last but not least manager are essential for me to get any of this work done. Teamwork makes the dream work and the start of this new installment of manhwa’s in a testament to that._

_And lastly, I want to thank Baekhyun. Honestly where would I be without you? Not writing and drawing this manhwa that's for sure. I mean if it wasn't obvious by now I will be writing this entire series because of you. We’ve been through a lot trying to make this work of my career and honestly I don't regret a thing. You’ve taught me so much about having fun, living and well love. If you read this, I hope you know that even though love is cliche I wouldn't mind doing it anyways with you._

_-Lay_

“Did that author note count as a love letter or should I write a better one?”

Baekhyun giggled out a laugh, a blush heavy on his cheeks, “It's not exactly a traditional shoujo love letter however I think it can manage.”

~ 

Turns out happy endings aren't just for fairytales and cheesy romance manhwa though Yixing should have known that by now. Yixing & Baekhyun moved in together, having Baekhyun officially stay in his apartment for long term, and not just for work. They started dating quickly, aka when Baekhyun made that ‘first love’ confession however he insisted that they went on an actual date because ‘doing all those romantic gestures and activities together made me want to have a real one with you’.

Not only had their relationship status upgraded so had their professional. Though continuing to go to school once it was Fall, Baekhyun was a co author for Yixing's manhwa series If It Isn’t Love alongside him. Baekhyun's creative and outgoing mind was perfect for when Yixing was unable to move the plot along and keep the chemistry along the characters. It also helped that Baekhyun's dad was so for the decision of Baekhyun co writing that helped him make the decision to join Yixing in the series.

They'd celebrated with a cake and some champagne for their future together. Honestly they had no idea whether this would work or mixing work and pleasure would finally come to kick their asses but it was a risk they were ready to take.

“So now I have to nag two of you about deadlines? Fantastic,” Jongdae groaned once they shared the news. They'd come to deliver the draft of the second volume, along with sharing the news and changing the author's name on the manhwa for future copies. 

“Come on it will be great all four of us working together on a manhwa. I’m excited.” Baekhyun cheered, hoping to lighten Jongdae's negative mood. He wiggled his eyebrows in hopes to amuse Jongdae which seemed to work as he now sported a grin on his lips.

“Well it’ll be fun and games until you two have creative differences and me and Minseok have to come barging in your apartment for a rough draft,” Jongdae shrugged, “But till that happens it will be fine.”

Minseok rolled his eyes, “He puts it in a negative way but what he means is it's great to work with you.” He nodded in Yixing's direction, “and to officially work with you again as well,”

“Have you told your dad? You know you work under him now technically, and Junmyeon too but still.” Minseok asked.

Baekhyun nodded, “He was the first one I told actually, he was happy about it and was glad I would still be going to school.”

“He also said he wouldn't go easy on you just because you're his son. I’m glad cause he can be a tough love kind of manager.”

“I know but it will be worth it. And it's not like I'm not used to him,” Baekhyun sing songed.

In a way this was exactly what was meant to happen. For Baekhyun to come into his life and change it forever and stay. It would only be fair that Baekhyun were to write alongside him as it's a spot he truly deserved. Baekhyun is the only reason he began drawing and writing again in the first place.

~ 

“You know I think you should add the sparkly eyes, pink and hearts and stuff every time Meixing looks at Boxian.” Baekhyun mumbled, head leaned over Yixing's shoulder as he went over the volumes sketches.

“I mean I could, but wouldn't that be a bit too much, should save those details for special occasions.”

“Nah you should have them their every time, and also when Boxian looks at Yixin too.”

“We’re no where near where the confession scene is you know that right? What ever happened to Mr. ‘’Make sure you have a detailed and structure outline for the plot.” Yixing asked.

“Yeah but that was before I remembered these characters are literally us, and therefore have no actual structure in the way they do things,”

Baekhyun scooted closer into Yixing, leaning more onto his chest then his shoulder, looking up with bright eyes “Plus it's the way we look at each other everyday so it would only be accurate. I want them to really portray us.” 

Yixing leaned down to kiss Baekhyun on the lips, moving his sketches and things to the side. Maybe Baekhyun was onto to something, though he usually was. He made a mental note to add those sparkly hearts and color, as he played with Baekhyun's hair, his head now resting in his lap. 

Yixing isn’t sure what the future holds for Boxian and Meixing, maybe they’ll fall in love, maybe they won’t it’s all under control of Yixing and Baekhyun’s hands. Their relationship, though filled with just as many cliches as Boxian and Meixing possibly more, won’t be decided by anyone but the hands of fate.

**Author's Note:**

> Though some aren't as obvious as others, and had to be adjusted in order to fit the story, I hope the cliches/tropes were somewhat transparent and you were able to understand what I was trying to convey. Thanks for reading~


End file.
